Business

The Thai government hopes a move to spark a shopping spree by offering tax breaks and cash handouts at the end of the year will improve economic stimulus in the fourth quarter. The cabinet approved a tax break for shopping spending or spending on services during the festive season between December 14-31. Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said the tax breaks would be a smart short-term...

Thailand goes outbound. Thai investments abroad, also known as “Outward Foreign Direct Investments (OFDI),” have come in the focus while the domestic industry lags behind the stated targets. However, Thai-foreign business project registration clearance papers and requirements should be carefully observed. Not only Thailand’s well-known public companies act as a global player when investing in...

PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the world’s largest professional-services firms, just released its predictions for the most powerful economies in the world by 2030. The report, titled “The long view: how will the global economic order change by 2050?” ranked 32 countries by their projected global gross domestic product by purchasing power parity. PPP is used by macroeconomists to determine...

What marketing works that doesn’t cost years of your life or thousands of dollars? How much would you pay for 1,000 new ‘targeted people’ to come to your website each month? What return on investment would you expect from it? Maybe 3-5% of these 1000 new visitors clicking your ‘Contact us page’? If say 5% of 1000 made a serious inquiry that’s 50 extra inquiries and if your business converts...

Our 2017 annual letter is addressed to our dear friend Warren Buffett, who in 2006 donated the bulk of his fortune to our foundation to fight disease and reduce inequity. A few months ago, Warren asked us to reflect on what impact his gift has had on the world. What follows is our answer to him. It’s a story about the stunning gains the poorest people in the world have made over the last 25 years. This...

According to Juniper Research, the global ride sharing market is estimated to grow to $6.5 billion by 2020 from $3.3 billion in 2015. North America is the biggest region in the industry and is expected to account for a third of the market share. Western Europe and Asia-Pacific, excluding Far East and China, are estimated to be the next big regions. While Uber maybe the biggest known brand worldwide, other...

The smartphones that sit uncomfortably inside our pocket are now more powerful than the large desktop computers from 10 years ago. However, many people will tell you that these fantastic advances in technology are not always a sign of progress. For example, anyone that remembers the days when the tank like Nokia 3310 ruled the world will scoff at our unusual modern ways. Back in simpler times, you...

Cold Calling is, by some distance, the most controversial topic in the sales community right now. There’s been a lot of articles written about it and everyone has strong opinions. Most people are talking from personal experience and some with the benefit of having run a team. I work for a company that makes more than 40,000 cold calls per week, to all parts of the globe. Does that give me more insight...

It’s no surprise that millennials now make up the largest share of traveler demographics and are the biggest factor in why independent hoteliers will work to perform better than in previous years. Having a full grasp where and who your business comes from is the first step in building proper revenue management. Millennials, in general, have remained neutral with their opinions on branded hotels, and...

Bill Gates makes a point of talking about how optimistic he is, which can seem like madness when you look at the massive and complex problems he and wife Melinda have set out to solve. Through the work of their Gates Foundation, they want to cut carbon emissions to zero, drop childhood deaths in half from their 2015 levels (already sliced in half from 1990 levels), quadruple the access to contraception in...